In a few days, the Hard Rock Casino Rockford will open its first own poker room.
In November 2021, Rockford first opened a temporary casino, also known as the Hard Rock Opening Act, but it did not have a poker room. The temporary facility was built in a former restaurant, so floor space was tight. As a result, there were no table games.
The permanent casino is scheduled to open at the end of the month, so Hard Rock closed its temporary premises on Monday. When the new facility opens, it will feature a poker room for the first time.
“I am there every day (at the new casino),” said Geno Iafrate, president of Hard Rock Casino Rockford WIFR-TV in Rockford on Monday. “I think every day I’m there I’m amazed at how beautiful it is and the amenities the building offers. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.”
One of these amenities will be a dedicated poker room.
Hard Rock announced that the new casino will open at 3 p.m. Summertime on August 29, subject to regulatory approval.
The new poker room will be small
The Hard Rock Casino Rockford will soon boast the newest poker room of any casino in Illinois.
With six tables, it will also be one of the smallest.
There are currently 15 land-based casinos in Illinois, nine of which have poker rooms. The state’s largest room is located an hour east of Rockford at Rivers Casino Des Plaines – it has a 22-table poker room.
The Grand Victoria Casino is located 45 minutes east of Rockford and runs along much of the same route as the Rivers Casino, but is a close second with 20 tables in a poker room.
No other casino in Illinois that offers poker has double-digit table counts. The six poker tables at Hard Rock Casino Rockford tie Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel for fifth place. Three casinos have five tables, one less than Hard Rock.
Poker Rooms in Illinois Casinos
| casino | Tables |
|---|---|
| Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel | 6 |
| Grand Victoria Casino | 20 |
| Hard Rock Casino Rockford | 6 |
| Harrah’s Joliet Casino & Hotel | 8 |
| Harrah’s Metropolis Casino & Hotel | 5 |
| Hollywood Casino Aurora | 7 |
| Hollywood Casino Joliet | 5 |
| Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino | 5 |
| Rivers Casino Des Plaines | 22 |
Sources: Poker Atlas, World Casino Directory, Telephone Calls to Casinos.
Plans to host tournaments
The new poker room may be small, but Hard Rock has big plans. The new casino is adjacent to a 22,000-square-foot venue—big enough to accommodate up to 2,000 people for a concert.
“We have plans to host major poker tournaments at this venue in the future,” Iafrate told the online media company Current in the Rock River beginning of the year.
Rockford is an ideal location to host a poker tournament because it is close to three major highways and is about equal distance from Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee.
Online poker not yet available
Hard Rock will reopen its poker room about three months after a bill to legalize real-money online poker in Illinois was defeated before the General Assembly went into recess until the fall.
Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. (D-Chicago) introduced HB 2239 in February 2023. The bill was assigned to two House committees but did not advance. Gonzalez said Poker Industry PRO in an exclusive interview in June that he plans to introduce a new bill in 2025.
Lawmakers attempted to legalize online poker and casino gaming during the 2021-2022 session, but they too were unsuccessful.
